In a joint police operation, the anti-narcotics wing of the Delhi Police and the Chennai city police nabbed two Sri Lankans and an Indian national, who were part of a gang involved in international heroin smuggling from a hideout at Poonamallee.

The police, based on specific clues, zeroed in on the two suspects residing at a house near Poonamallee.

It is learnt, from Chennai police officers, that nearly 17 kilograms of heroin was seized from the two suspects, identified as Rafiq and Toufiq, hailing from Sri Lanka.

The Chennai resident arrested in the case has been identified as Bharathi.

The arrests come close on the heels of a series of arrests by the Narcotics Control Bureau, which has highlighted the Delhi-Tamil Nadu-Sri Lanka nexus used by drug smugglers to smuggle drugs to several countries.

The Delhi police will soon produce the suspects in court and take them to Delhi on a transit warrant for further investigations.